Ukrainian Politics, Energy and Corruption under ... - Taras Kuzio

politics
 while
 others
 (Pryvat
 group)
 continued
 to
 remain
 outside
 politics.
 The
Dnipropetrovsk
clans
Trudova
Ukrayina
(Labour
Ukraine)
party
merged
with
the
Party
of
Regions
 in
 April
 2008,
 the
 NDP
 (Peoples
 Democratic
 Party)
 is
 to
 merge
 with
 the
 propresidential
Yedyny
Tsentr
(United
Centre)
party
while
the
SDPUo
has
become
completely
marginalised
as
a
political
force.
The
 separation
 of
 business
 and
 politics,
 which
 was
 one
 of
 the
 demands
 of
 the
Orange
Revolution,
has
not
taken
place
under
Yushchenko.
There
are
a
greater
number
of
businessmen
in
the
Ukrainian
parliament
today
than
there
were
under
Kuchma.
Lack
 of
 progress
 in
 the
 separation
 of
 business
 and
 politics
 is
 coupled
 with
 weak
progress
in
establishing
the
rule
of
law
and
battling
high
level
corruption.
The
Ukrainian
elites
 continue
 to
 remain
 above
 the
 law.
 Presidential
 control
 over
 the
 Prosecutor‐
General’s
 office
 under
 both
 the
 1996
 and
 2006
 constitutions
 has
 not
 brought
 any
improvement
 in
 the
 rule
 of
 law,
 not
 surprising
 considering
 the
 choice
 of
 candidates,
Svyatoslav
 Piskun
 and
 Oleksandr
 Medvedko.
 The
 award
 of
 state
 medals
 to
 former
Prosecutor‐General
 Mykhailo
 Potebenko,
 former
 Central
 Election
 Commission
 chairman
Sergei
 Kivalov
 or
 Party
 of
 Regions
 campaign
 manager
 Boris
 Kolesnikov
 sent
 the
 wrong
signal
 on
 the
 rule
 of
 law
 that
 the
 elites
 –
 as
 in
 the
 Kuchma
 –
 era
 continue
 to
 remain
beyond
prosecution.

Former
Naftohaz
Ukrainy
CEO
under
Kuchma,
Yuriy
Boyko,
was
to
be
 arrested
 for
 abuse
 of
 office
 in
 summer
 2005
 but
 this
 was
 halted
 by
 the
 direct
intervention
of
the
President’s
office.
Transparency
 is
 central
 to
 changing
 the
 manner
 in
 which
 business
 and
 politics
 is
undertaken.
The
Byzantine
nature
in
which
power
is
exercised
and
business
is
undertaken
has
 not
 fundamentally
 changed
 since
 the
 Orange
 Revolution.
 
 During
 three
 presidential